Adjustable seat belt guide

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an adjustable seat belt guide ( 15 ) which is constructed of a clamping belt ( 5 ) around the back support ( 6 ) of a car seat ( 4 ) in a vertical way and supplied with a tightening retaining clip ( 7 ) for a taut fastening, in which through a cover ( 8 ) around the clamping belt ( 5 ) a rectangular carabiner or other inventable locking mechanism ( 10 ) provided with a lockable opening, preferably a turnable bush ( 11 ) is attached, in which the car seat belt ( 1 ) is applied through the locking mechanism ( 10 ) so that a very comfortable complete car seat belt assembly is created for a pleasant ride.

This application claims first priority to the Netherlands PatentApplication No. 102 0859 filed on Jun. 14, 2002, and the United Stateswas timely specified as an Elected Country in the PCT Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/NL02/00542 filed on Aug. 13, 2002, which is explicitlyincorporated by reference as if set forth below.

The present invention relates to a device for adjusting the upper pointof grip of seat belts, a so called adjustable seat belt guide, in whichthe mentioned upper point of grip should be lowerable in most cases tobe adjusted to the length of the user, which in that case are mostly“young” people with a body length between 1 m and 1.65 m.

A somewhat similar adjustable seat belt guide is not known in the lookedup patent literature, but there is known a general in height adjustableseat belt, not being a seat belt guide. It concerns the European patentdocument number WO 9210385, based on the Swedish patent document numberSE 199 00003883 19901206 of VOLVO AB (SE) with inventor PILHALL STIG(SE).

Here it concerns a seat belt guide, which is mounted adjustably on thetop side on the inside of the vehicle, such as a private car, and asmentioned especially meant for persons on the back seat. The seat beltis of the retractable reel-like type and is mounted on the inner side ofthe compartment of the vehicle. The in height adjustable assemblyconsists of an in longitudinal direction sticking out body. The inlongitudinal direction sticking out body is mounted on the inner side ofthe compartment at shoulder height of the person. The length of theguiding body of in longitudinal direction sticking out body has an upperattachment point of the safety belt that can be fixed slidably such thatwith smaller ‘adult’ people the transverse belt does not touch the face.

The aforementioned known device has a number of disadvantages. Thegreatest disadvantage is that only the upper attachment point of thesafety belt, the transverse belt, or cross belt is adjustable. In allthese invented constructions, the belt does not lay low enough over justthe chest of smaller persons. Furthermore, these designs prevent theheight of the attachment of the belt from being adjusted below the upperside of the back support of the car seat. Letting the safety belt runover the car seat with friction would not be a solution for acomfortable safety belt and especially the transverse belt or cross belteither so that, the known adjustment device certainly does not offer acomfortable solution.

Another similar solution, as described above, is described in the Frenchpatent document FR 2533446 of applicant RENAULT (FR) with inventorJOURDAN, Jacques and LARSONNEUR, Jean-Francois.

This reference describes a safety belt with retracting assembly anddevice for adjusting the height of the transverse belt or cross belt, inwhich the upper side can be fixed adjustably to a vertical guide on theinner side of the vehicle. The upper side of the transverse belt can beadjusted to a certain extent. For smaller persons and especially youngpeople, these described adjustment possibilities are not nearly enoughand the aforementioned disadvantages of un-safety and little comfortduring the ride are still maintained.

The aim of the present invention concerns to provide such a solution foradjusting in height of the transverse belt or cross belt, that theaforementioned disadvantages are eliminated and of which the use isbetter and by which an adjustable seat belt guide can be delivered whichis suitable for wide use at a reasonable price.

For this a device for adjusting the upper point of grip of seat beltsand specifically a height lower than the upper side of the back supportis further developed in a very inventive way, that the mentioned device,the so called adjustable seat belt guide, is constructed of a vertical,around the side of the back support of the car seat attachable ormountable clamping belt or belt with tightening retaining clip for ataut fastening, in which around the mentioned clamping belt a movablecover is applied with at least one rectangular opening faced away fromthe back support and transverse on the direction of the clamping beltfor leading through a rectangular carabiner applied around the clampingbelt and which also goes through the mentioned rectangular opening, inwhich the actual supporting seat belt is fixed through the rectangularspace of the carabiner, in which the mentioned carabiner is lockable orretainable on the outside, in which the material of the mentionedclamping belt can be a woven fabric and the material of the lockingmechanism can be a metal or plastic or any other material withsufficient strength quality.

The advantage is that a guiding adjustment possibility is created foralmost every body length, which strongly improves the comfort and safetyfor, for example children and makes the journey much more pleasant.

Further the device according to the invention is developed in such away, that the mentioned clamping belt of the adjustable seat belt guideis of woven seat belt fabric, and that the mentioned tighteningretaining clip is an in the market available lashing buckle or anotherdesign of a clip or clasp.

The advantage is that the adjustable seat belt guide can be applied fastand effectively (without sliding while in use) around the back supportof the car seat.

Furthermore the device according to the invention is developed in such away that, the mentioned cover can be made of a woven fabric, leather,plastic or any material with flexible properties, in which at least onecentral rectangular opening is applied for the carabiner or otherlocking mechanism and further, if required, above and below thementioned rectangular opening two parallel rectangular slits forlead-through of the clamping belt are applied.

The advantage is an in unloaded position slidable cover over the belt ofthe adjustable seat belt guide and after attaching the locking mechanism(at this moment the carabiner) stays well at the desired height.

Furthermore the device according to the invention is further developedin such a way, that the mentioned carabiner has an opening facedoutwardly, which can be closed by a turnable over the carabiner with theturnable having an elongated bush with roughened outer surface or thatthe mentioned carabiner has an opening faced outwardly, which can beclosed by a spring snap construction or lip construction or otherlocking mechanism.

The advantages are that the transverse belt of the seat belt can beattached or mounted in a suitable and very handy way through the lockingmechanism of mentioned carabiner of the adjustable seat belt guide.

The preferred construction of the invention will be described by way ofexample, and with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a front view in oblique projection of the usual position ofa safety belt on a young lady with a small body length and constructedaccording to the known art;

FIG. 2 shows a front view in oblique projection of the utilization ofthe adjustable seat belt guide according to a preferred embodiment ofthe invention on the young lady of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a front view in oblique projection of the adjustable seatbelt guide according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention;and

FIG. 4 shows a front view in oblique projection of the adjustable seatbelt guide according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a front view in oblique projection of the usual and mostlyonly way of positioning or application of the known safety belt 1 on ayoung lady or child 2 with a relatively small body length.

The child or the young lady 2 is seated on the back seat 4 of a car andtherefore gets the cross belt of the safety belt 1 against her face 3,which is very annoying and because of which the trip becomes unpleasant.

FIG. 2 shows a front view in oblique projection of the utilization ofthe adjustable seat belt guide 15 with clamping belt 5 for the crossbelt of the safety belt 1. This way the child or the young lady 2experiences the car trip as much more pleasant. The adjustable seat beltguide with clamping belt 5 is strapped around the back support 6 of theback seat 4 in a vertical way. Strapping is done with a tighteningretaining clip 7, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The adjustable seat beltguide 15 with clamping belt 5 further consists of an along the seat beltguide movable or slidable cover 8 with, faced away from the adjustableseat belt guide 15 with clamping belt 5, at least one rectangularopening 9 transverse on the direction of the adjustable seat belt guide15 with clamping belt 5, through which the adjustable seat belt guide 15with clamping belt 5 becomes visible again from the outside. Through thementioned opening 9, a carabiner 10 is fixed around the actual clampingbelt 5 of the adjustable seat belt guide 15 by means of, for examplescrewing the turnable bush lock 11 open. By opening the carabiner 10again, the cross belt of the safety belt 1 is applied or mounted, afterwhich the opened carabiner is closed again and the adjustable seat beltguide is fastened. This turnable bush lock 11 can also be replaced by aspringy snap construction (i.e., a springy over a hook) or lipconstruction as well as a round wire through a bore (shown schematicallyin FIG. 4). The locking mechanism is one of stainless steel and materialwith strength quality and plastic, possibly polypropylene.

FIG. 4 also shows two parallel rectangular slits 12 and 13 above andbelow the central rectangular opening 9. This can have as purpose thatthe cover 8 is slidable along the adjustable belt with a largerfriction. Furthermore logo's, advertisement messages, marks and furthertexts can be applied on the cover 8 and/or the lock 11, through whichthe whole looks even more aesthetic or desirable and possibly leads toeven better sale results.

Finally it has to be emphasized, that the above description constitutesa preferred embodiment of the present invention and that furthervariations and modifications are still possible without departing thescope of this patent description.

1. A device for adjusting an upper point of grip of seat belts,comprising an adjustable seat belt guide, in which mentioned upper pointof grip should be lowerable in most cases to be adjusted to the lengthof the a user, which in that case is mostly young people with a bodylength between 1 m and 1.65 m, characterized in that, the adjustableseat belt guide comprises: a vertical, around the side of a back supportof a car seat at least one of attachable and mountable clamping belt orbelt with tightening retaining clip for a taut fastening, in whicharound said clamping belt a movable cover is applied with at least onerectangular opening faced away from the back support and transverse onthe direction of the clamping belt for leading through of a rectangularcarabiner applied around the clamping belt and which also goes throughsaid rectangular opening, in which an actual supporting seat belt isfixed through the carabiner, in which the mentioned carabiner islockable or retainable on the outside, in which the material of thementioned clamping belt is a woven fabric and the material of a lockingmechanism of the carabiner is of a rigid material.
 2. The device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said clamping belt of the adjustable seatbelt guide is of woven seat belt fabric, and that said tighteningretaining clip is a lashing buckle.
 3. The device as claimed in claim 1,wherein said cover is made of one of a woven fabric, leather, plasticand material with flexible properties, in which above and below saidrectangular opening two parallel rectangular slits for a lead-through ofthe clamping belt are applied.
 4. The device as claimed in claim 1wherein said carabiner has an opening faced outwardly, which is closedby a turnable over the carabiner, the turnable comprising an elongatedbush with a roughened outer surface.
 5. The device as claimed in claim 4wherein said outer surface of the turnable and the cover with thecarabiner is provided with at least one of advertisement messages,marks, logo's, texts to provide a more attractive look.
 6. The device asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said carabiner has an opening facedoutwardly, which can be closed by one of a spring snap construction anda lip construction.
 7. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein saidcarabiner has an opening faced outwardly, which can be closed by a roundwire mounted through a bore and springy over a hook.
 8. The device asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said carabiner is one of a stainless steeland rigid material and said plastic is polypropylene.